Ijime
by Renhi
Summary: A victim of ijime commits suicide by jumping off her school building, and SPR is soon called upon by Morishita High to investigate violent paranormal activity. With a teenage ghost hellbent on revenge, will the group make it out alive? (will rewrite, i'm very sorry)
1. dye everything red

**Disclaimer:** I don't own Ghost Hunt.

Ijime: Bullying to the extreme. No kidding, "bullying" is too light of a word compared to how cruel ijime is.

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**Chapter One**: _dye everything red_

* * *

"What did I do wrong...?" the girl said breathlessly. "What did I do? I never deserved this, I never did anything to deserve this..."

Years of ijime. Years of getting razor blades on the edges of her books and thumbtacks in her shoes, years of getting locked "by _accident_, I'm sorry, Nakamura-san" (the girls snickered as Megumi nodded absentmindedly before she was pushed to the ground once again) in the gym. Memories flashed before her as she smiled desolately, afraid of tomorrow and what the sun brought along. Perched upon the rail of the school building roof, Megumi looked down at the dirt-trodden school field.

If she jumped, she wouldn't feel anymore. If she jumped...if she jumped and became a ghost, she could seek revenge...

The thought remained. Megumi grinned wickedly as her white sundress billowed in the cold winter night.

If I'm going to die, she told herself, I'm going to paint things red. Red, like the blood flowing in me, like my classmates that I hate so much. I'm going to die, she repeated, and Megumi sighed in relief that there'd be no more pain.

No more razor blades, no more dead bugs in her pencil case, no more getting kicked and force-fed trash in the dark corners of her school, no more blood, no more bile, no more tears, no more crying in the dark, no more...

She wanted to die. She was going to die.

She was content.

Sparing one last glance at herself, she flew in the wind. She savored the feel of cold air hitting her skin and savored the nothingness of it all--I'm going to die and I didn't have any need for stupid, ridiculous education, after all--and a sickening crunch of bones resounded in the cold winter air.

She was glad. It hurt less than her heart, she vaguely noticed in the back of her mind. Her world was slowly becoming dark, dark, red with blood and yes, sweet nothingness--

She never closed her eyes.

-------------------

Running around the small office of SPR, Mai went to and fro from her desk to the kitchen from boredom. She was in an altogether good mood. The sun was bright and warm, and she was going to see Naru (although she dreaded having to run around making tea for him). Maybe the others were going to stop by, but she shrugged. Going to work was better than lying down on her bed and staring at the ceiling, so yes, she was in a pretty good mood. She turned on the radio on her way to boil some more tea.

Listening to the radio with the latest news, Mai hummed to herself as she waited for the tea to boil near the plain kitchen.

"Nakamura Megumi, aged seventeen, was found dead on Morishita High School's track field with a letter that she seemed to have written addressed to her school. It is assumed to be a suicide, although investigations are still going on during this time..."

Mai gasped. Poor, poor girl. What could've pushed her to suicide? She shook her head as she poured the tea in the various cups and put them in the tray and hurriedly went and gave Naru and Lin their respective cups of tea.

Trying to forget the feeling of dread that spread across her chest like a virus, she hummed herself a lullaby as she went over to sit on the sofa. Resting her head on the cushioned armrest, she breathed in with shaky lungs and felt everything close around her.

------------------

She was floating on thin air. The dark was almost refreshing in its dullness, and there was a general feel of placidness that resided in the air surrounding her.

"...Naru?" Mai called as she looked around the darkness. "Anybody there?"

Suddenly, the scene changed before her and she was in a classroom filled with students. A lone girl sat down at the back of the room, staring out the window. A girl went up to her.

"Ne, I wonder why you were born. Why do you have to come here and ruin our classroom?" she said to the girl haughtily, crossing her arms together and tapping the floor with her left foot. "I wish you were never alive. Why don't you just go die already? Nobody likes you, you know."

A boy smirked as he heard what was going on. From behind his own desk about three rows away, he went up to the two girls and nodded along as the standing girl continued to berate her. "I know, right? I wonder why you don't die. It's always the low-lives that live. You're disgusting. What is this?" he said to her as he picked up her book bag. "You're so disgusting," he proclaimed. "Why would you put _bugs_ into your pencil case?" The boy stuck two fingers into the girl's pencil case, took out a dead caterpillar, then threw it at her.

The girl winced as it hit her cheek and fell to the ground, squirming.

"Come to think of it," the other girl said as she stared at the scene with a smirk, "you look _just_ like that caterpillar, don't you? _Me_-_gu_-_mi_-chan?"

Megumi shuddered. Her bangs covered her eyes and she shook slightly, and she fisted her hands into the plaid skirt of the uniform.

The class grew silent as they saw the innocent girl get abused, but only cared to laugh.

"She's so disgusting," one girl whispered to her friend.

"Isn't she?" the friend replied. "Who cares about that lowlife, anyway?" The two of them giggled in sadistic enjoyment.

_I want to die_, a voice whispered. Mai looked around for the owner of the voice, then paused to look on at the poor girl. _I'm useless, I'm a failure, I'm worthless..._

Mai looked at the scene in front of her, horrified. How could people be so cruel? How could they do that to the girl, who was so scared?

Megumi looked close to tears. Mai wanted to touch Megumi, comfort her and chase all those cruel, cruel students who were so bent on tormenting the other girl.

Then, the scene changed. Megumi was crying on top of a lavender-colored bed as she hugged a pillow in comfort. "I'm worthless...I wish I was dead." Megumi sniffed as more tears seeped from her eyes.

Mai felt her heart break. Then, she remembered what she heard in the news earlier.

"Nakamura _Megumi_...suicide..."

Mai gasped. Oh, god. She--the poor, poor girl--she was going to kill herself. She understood why, she did, but...she was so young, and she wanted to comfort the girl and tell her so many things, but she was just a spectator. She turned away from the scene, powerless.

"I'm sorry, Megumi-chan," Mai whispered. "I'm so, so sorry..."

_I hate my school_, a voice rasped out. _I'm going to make them sorry..._

* * *

Mai gasped as she woke up. Tears clouded her sight and sweat drenched her shirt, and she shuddered at the memories of what the girl had to go through. Wiping the tears away from her eyes, she squeaked as Naru stared right at her from above.

"N-Naru!" she said shakily with a slight laugh. "W-what are you d-doing?"

"Obviously, I'm trying to prevent my assistant from sleeping on the job." He looked at her with a demeaning look, as if saying "Why are you even asking me this?"

Mai's laugh subsided as she began to glare at Naru. Ugh, that insufferable jerk. She rolled her eyes at her boss' uncaringness.

"We have a new case. Get ready."

Mai's head shot up. "Eh? To where?"

Naru stared at the girl in front of him. "Morishita High School."

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Reviews are loved, and criticism is lovely. Please review!

-Renhi


	2. how about a game?

**Disclaimer:** I _really_ don't own Ghost Hunt.

**A/N:** Thank you so, _so_ much for the positive reviews! I'll try my best to make this a wonderful story that you all will enjoy to read! *hearts*

**EDITED 2/18/2010. Thank you so much for pointing out flaws, Rosedream! I'll try my best to make sure it doesn't happen again ^^**

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**Chapter Two:** _how about a game?_

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Mai looked on at the school before her and its vast similarity to her own school in its vapid plainness. She sighed as she brushed her hair that was obscuring her sight, groaning in exasperation as she saw Lin open the trunk of the SPR van full to the brim with equipment.

Megumi's memories haunted Mai's dreams, and Mai couldn't help but feel a sense of non-belonging. The students of this school, in a sense, had killed the poor girl.

She was in a school filled with murderers who were merely fearful of taking the last stab, and had instead forced the girl into her own demise.

It was so _wrong_, just _so wrong_, just so--

Bou-san poked Mai in the ribs, pulling her out of her reverie.

"_Ow_!" She whipped her head towards him. "What'd you do that for?!"

"You just looked so depressed, jou-chan," he stated rather matter-of- factly with a dash of innocence. "I just did what my big brother instincts told me to do!"

Mai punched him lightly. "Don't you mean 'old man' instincts?" she rebuked, snickering.

Bou-san harrumphed at the statement, but did nothing to deny it. "You're so uncute."

Mai grinned as Takigawa noogied her head until a voice coughed behind them.

"I'm not paying you to play around." Naru told them coldly. "Mai, carry the equipment to base. The teacher over there will show you where it is. Bou-san, help her. The less time we waste on moving, the better." He pointed to a young woman with a long-sleeved beige shirt and black dress pants, who smiled and waved her hands softly with her hair up in a bun. Mai smiled back until she saw what she had to carry.

Groaning, Mai raised her hands in defeat as a metaphorical white flag rose behind her. "Yes, sir..."

Bou-san scratched the back of his head. "Ahahaha..."

Mai picked up a large box and Bou-san shrugged and did the same, but grabbed one more after feeling the weight in his arms.

As the two lugged the equipment and walked into the school with the teacher as the guide, Mai smiled awkwardly at the other woman and began to make conversation.

"Where are we going?" Mai asked first. The teacher seemed to be quite approachable, so she found it easy to speak to her.

The teacher tapped her chin lightly. "I was told that we were going to one of the science lab rooms," she said. "It's one of the largest classrooms, seeing as this is more of a try-it-yourself school," the teacher explained. "I'm sorry, I didn't catch your names. I'm Mizuki Hina."

"Nice to meet you, Mizuki-san," Mai and Bou-san chirruped together. "I'm Taniyama Mai!"

"My name's Takigawa Houshou, but you can call me Bou-san," Takigawa told her. Mai elbowed him with some trouble and wiggled her eyebrows as if asking him what his motives were.

"..._monk_?" Hina said after a while. "But I thought monks were bald...?"

Takigawa resisted the urge to bang his head on the equipment.

"That's...a myth. Well, there's not much difference in abilities if we have hair or not," he explained. "It's not a myth, per se. More like...something that's just accepted by Buddhist society. I guess I'm the anomaly?"

The three laughed as they approached the staircase, slowly going upwards to prevent any damage or accidents.

"And Taniyama-san?" the teacher asked. "What do you do? I understand that your jobs are quite...eccentric," she said slowly, as if trying to prevent any ill feelings towards her.

'Eccentric is an understatement,' Mai and Bou-san both muttered. Hina cocked her head in confusion.

"I'm..." Mai paused. It'd be weird to tell her that she slept to see the ghosts' pasts for her job, and she did always make tea. "I just make tea and just do the dirty work...I guess."

"Ah," Hina replied, nodding her head. "Everybody's scared to come to school nowadays after what began to happen. It's scary, I have to admit. But the rumors are that...Megumi-san is haunting this school," she told them.

Bou-san looked confused. "Megumi?"

"Yes. The one that committed suicide here a few days ago." Hina sighed. She paused, then looked at Bou-san. "It was on the news a few days ago. The press went crazy about it--oh, here it is." Hina slid open the door and showed them to an area where they could put the boxes down.

"Oh, right," Hina said suddenly. The two looked at her expectantly, somewhat curious. "The school's been closed for the this month for more investigation on Megumi-san's suicide, so you don't have to worry about the students for a while. But please feel free to contact me if you need a particular student to come over here to tell you some information."

Nodding in understanding before she stretched her arms that were now free from heavy equipment, Mai looked at the room in detail. There were some cobwebs in the room that showed that the room had been unused for quite a while, but it seemed that most of the dust was wiped off beforehand prior to their arrival.

This was the place that Megumi had suffered, here... She vaguely made out images of the others in the room as one of Megumi's memories came alive in her vision.

------------

"I'm sorry, I'm sorry..." Megumi whimpered in fear before the towering girls. She closed her eyes and felt tears roll down her cheeks as the corners of the room met behind her, ignoring her attempts to hide somewhere.

"_Sorry_? Is that all you can say?" a brown-haired girl said. "_You_ broke your _promise_. Do you remember what it is?"

Megumi rapidly shook her head no. "I-I'm sorry," she hurriedly said, scared of what would happen.

"Oh?" another girl stated. The girl looked at Megumi as if looking at an animal. "If you don't remember..." She paused as she took out a needle from her pocket.

Oh, _oh god_.

A child's song played in her mind.

_"Pinky promise,  
If you lie,  
Swallow a thousand needles..." _(*)

"We'll help you remember. Ne, Nakamura-san?" she licked her lip-gloss-wearing lips which were adorned with a jubilant grin.

Playing with the needle between two fingers, she began to inch it close to Megumi's mouth.

"Eat it." she told Megumi. She pushed the needle closer to her.

But she'd _die_ and she didn't want to die like _this_, she was too young, _just too young_, and oh god, the needle was so sharp--

"Hey, what are you guys doing?!"

All of the girls turned rapidly to see the owner of the voice.

"S-sensei! We were just telling Nakamura-san something in..._private_," the first girl said. The others nodded in unison.

"Get out! It's late, and you don't want your parents to worry, do you?" the teacher yelled. He tapped his foot impatiently and looked at the girls in disdain.

Megumi had never felt so relieved in her life. Watching the girls depart from the dusty science room, she stood up only after their footsteps died away. The teacher left soon after the group of girls left. The leader of the girls threw the shiny silver-colored needle at the floor.

Shellshocked, Megumi dusted off her skirt in a mechanical manner and looked at the needle on the floor.

"_Please don't exist_, was it?" Megumi murmured to herself. Ah, so _that_ was the promise... If that teacher didn't show up, she would've had to swallow that needle...

A sentence rang through her mind. "_How does it feel...to be stripped of your humanity...?_"

"I want to die," she mumbled. "But..." Megumi paused at the statement that ran in her head, over and over again.

-------------

"-i. Mai."

Dazed, the brunette shot up and looked around to see where she was.

"Eh? Where am I?"

Naru resisted the urge to roll his eyes. "Obviously, if you weren't out sleeping, you'd realize that we're in base."

Mai grumbled. Yes, of _course_ she knew where base was, even though it changed on _every single case_ they took on! Jerk.

"Naru, what did they say about the phenomena?" she asked, curious at what had went on during her sleep.

Naru threw her a binder. "If you're curious, read it yourself. I want the folder organized in alphabetical order. Oh, and by the way, get me some tea." With that, he went over to one of the lab desks and started skimming the screens that were set up.

_Jerk_, jerk jerk jerk stupid narcissist, stupid jerk that just _had_ to be good looking.

The lab room door slid open loudly to reveal an exhausted Bou-san. He sauntered in the room with lazy, big steps as he spotted Mai.

"Oh, jou-chan, you're up? Geez, you gave me quite the fright there you know: suddenly falling asleep on me! Boss over there made me do all the running around and setting up cameras while you were out," he said as he bonked Mai's head a few times for revenge.

Mai blinked. Oh. So he wasn't the cruelest person on earth.

"Mai," Naru raised his head to look at Mai. "I need a detailed explanation of what you've been seeing the last few days."

How did he know--

"Have you checked a mirror lately?"

_Oh. Damn psychic jerk._

"So...who else is coming?" Bou-san asked Mai as he plopped on the sofa she found herself lying down, trying to evade the subject that Naru had blatantly raised. When did they get this up here? How long had she been out?

"Ayako, John-san, and Yasuhara-kun. He needs to come and pretend he's Naru again," she explained. "The press was quite interested in 'the tragedy of the teenage girl'. They said that they're all arriving tomorrow."

"What about Masako?"

"She has filming to do, and I heard her schedule's packed for this month and the next. She wanted to come for Naru's sake, but...yeah," Mai told him, remembering how the conversation went with a furious Masako and herself sweatdropping.

"Ah," Bou-san said understandingly.

"Mhm," Mai agreed nonchalantly, not paying attention to the conversation anymore. The sound of typing was oddly calming as she stood up to go to the home economics classroom to boil some tea.

Suddenly, the temperature of the room hit rock-bottom.

"It's best for you all to go where you belong," a voice rasped out. "This is my problem, not yours."

Everybody paused. Lin stopped typing into his laptop, Naru put his pen down and began to scan the screens of other rooms with a scrutinizing glare, and Takigawa stood up in front of Mai as if trying to protect her from whatever it was, fingers together as if to begin chanting as soon as the voice began inflicting attacks.

Mai's eyes went wide as she understood the implications. Suddenly, why she had these dreams made sense, why she knew what Megumi went through made absolute sense just like the fact that people need air to survive.

"And even so," it continued, taunting. "_You can't stop me_."

Mai looked on as to where she thought looked the coldest. "Megumi...chan?"

Megumi's breath hitched, and she remembered the taunts, the "_You're trash, and you know where trash belongs, don't you, Megumi-chan?_", the pushes and the glee-filled eyes of the students in her class as she cried for help, the "_Megumi-chan, why don't you wash your face_?" before they dunked her head in the toilet, and she paused. She was _dead_, she was back, and she could _punish_ those bastard-children...she calmed down. "You'll regret coming here. You're going to be sorry for putting your noses where _none of you_ belong."

Megumi suddenly appeared in front of them all, glaring daggers at everybody in the vicinity as Bou-san started to chant and Lin brought out his shiki. Mai gulped as the other girl looked at her with scrutinizing eyes, shock overwhelming her system as she was pushed harshly and hit a wooden desk.

"_Mai!_"

The wooden desk gave out from the sudden pressure as it cracked into pieces, and Mai cried out in pain as splinters embedded itself into her body.

As everything blurred out from pain and she felt her body become heavy and dull, from the corner of her eyes, she was sure she saw Megumi smiling, smiling so innocently that it was a paradox as to how she could say what she said next.

"I know you see my memories," she told the injured girl sweetly. Megumi's eyelashes touched her cheek lightly as she blinked innocently. "And you see..." Megumi paused a bit as she licked her fingers in a demented manner. "I think that's a bit..._private_. I'll tell you this: I don't need _pity_. I don't need pity, _especially_ from the opposite side," she spat out viciously.

"So how about a game, Mai..._chan_? Your whole...'paranormal group'...versus _me_."

As everything slowly became black, Mai looked at the girl in horror.

Megumi smiled. "Oh, right," she said, remembering. "Mai-_chan_, tell your spirit guide...Gene, was it? Tell him that he can't stop me."

* * *

* Yubikiri Genman, something similar to the "Make a promise, hope to die, stick a needle in your eye" song, but in romaji it's:

"Yubikiri Genman,  
Uso tsuitara,  
Hari senbon nomasu!"

It comes out in a lot of anime. And for the record, I borrowed the swallow-the-needle scene from the J-drama "Life"!

* * *

Ah, dear psychotic Megumi. She's gone mad, and I love her so much for being so awesome. But of course, this is just the beginning.

She hates Mai, although Mai just wants to help her. Oh well, Mai, what do you expect when Megumi doesn't trust anybody? Calling her Megumi-chan is something intimidating, and intimidating a ghost is just...*snort* Yeah.

Please feel free to tell me any mistakes you see (such as OOC-ness, spelling errors, grammatical mistakes, etc)!

Love you all, and please review!


	3. catharsis

**Disclaimer:** I do not own Ghost Hunt.

**A/N**: I'm _so so so _sorry for the late update! School just started, and it's already taking a toll on me. I seriously hate being a junior. _I want my freshman year back!_

**

* * *

**

**Chapter Three:** _catharsis_

* * *

Mai's mind whirred in confusion.

Who was Gene? Why was Megumi doing this? What was going on? What was she going to do to them? Was it her fault? How had she known she had seen her dreams? _Who was Gene and why did he look so much like Naru?_

Questions floated in her head, almost palpable even to her dulled senses in their choking confusion.

The mental fog of pain that blurred clear thought processes began to slowly dissipate as Mai opened her eyes to a worried Ayako.

"Mai, you're awake!" Ayako cried. Ayako began her rant on what had happened to her after she fainted, in which it seemed that the splinters on her body were carefully removed by the miko of the group.

"Ayako...? When did you get here?" Mai murmured sleepily, still in a daze. Immediately, she began to support her upper-body weight with her arms as she raised herself up, but a hand stopped her.

She winked at Mai. "I just had some little things to finish, so I did it all yesterday in a hurry to get here after hearing what happened to you from Bou-san. Anyway, how is your body?"

Just then, Naru walked in with a nonchalant look on his face.

"Naru! What're you doing here?" Ayako asked curiously while looking at Mai with a knowing gaze.

Before Naru could retort back with an acerbic statement, Ayako leaned towards Mai and whispered, "Cut him some slack, he's been checking how you were every hour like a doting lover." She rolled her eyes for emphasis, and Mai gawked at Ayako in shock. Seriously? He was actually _worried_ for her? Naru was?! Mai looked away and tried desperately to hide the blush that began to show more prominently on her cheeks.

Naru looked at Ayako with a murderous glare as she moved away from the two. Ayako laughed sheepishly and left the nurse's office to go to base, yelling at Mai to not worry and "call her if something hurt".

"Tell me _everything_ you know," Naru commanded, going straight to business.

Mai scratched her cheek with her index finger. "Eh...that is..."

Naru waited. "Don't think you're going to get away without telling me everything that happened."

"I've been having...dreams about her," she began, slowly. "She killed herself after being a constant victim of bullying...and it was like...they were treating her like an animal..." A feeling of sick relief overcame her as the dam she had tried to place on Megumi's memories broke completely, leaving Mai telling Naru everything she had seen as if she was in a confession booth.

Naru looked at the injured girl in front of him and contemplated his choices of action. He could anger her, but that had a probability to cause some of the injuries to open up again from violent movement (seeing how she was always aggressive with her movements), or he could just make her sleep and get better faster. After a moment's contemplation, Naru patted her awkwardly on the head a few times and stood up, telling her to sleep.

Surprised, Mai blinked a few times and slipped into the covers of the nurse office's bed and slowly felt warm darkness encroach her, close but not close enough.

"Naru...?" she trailed sleepily. He looked at her as if telling her to continue.

"Tell me who Gene is...?" Mai inwardly scolded herself. Stupid mouth. Why couldn't it hold in some damn questions?!

Naru visibly stiffened. His eyes grew wide with shock for a split second before they quickly converted to an intense glare. "How do you know Gene?"

Blinking rapidly to prevent becoming sleepy further, Mai looked at Naru. "My dreams," she said, as if it explained everything. "I saw you in my dreams, and Megumi called the 'you' I see in my dreams as "Gene", and...he was just different than you, I guess. It just struck me as odd, but I never found a reason to ask you about it until now." She clamped her mouth shut to prevent a yawn from coming out.

Naru studied the girl in front of him with an apathetic expression upon his face. He sighed.

"Gene...is my twin brother." he began, breathing in slowly and closing his eyes, which made him look older than he actually was. "It'd be more accurate to say 'was', though, seeing as he's...dead." The wrinkles on the middle of his eyebrows creased together. "He..." Naru paused. "My name is Oliver Davis."

This was a day for shock, wasn't it? Thank god she was alive.

She choked on her breath. "What?!" Mai gaped like a fish in dry land. "But--Shibuya Kazuya---"

"It was an alias," he said curtly.

Mai bursted out in laughter. "No wonder the name was stupid," she said, giggling. "Seriously Naru, _Shibuya_?" Holding on to her ribs as she violently shook with laughter, Mai resisted the urge to pound her pillow senseless.

Naru glared at her as he slowly let his body relax.

With a squeak, she immediately stopped laughing. "Why are you in Japan?"

Immediately, Naru reverted back to his tense posture. "To find Gene's body."

Mai gasped. "Eh?"

"It was a hit-and-run. The people that hit Gene didn't want to go to prison so they threw his body into a pond."

"How cruel..."

Naru nodded softly, and Mai felt a tidal wave of sorrow rush through her body. "I'm so, so sorry for asking you such a personal question, Naru..."

"If Gene appeared to you, there must be some explanation for his actions."

Mai smiled. "He always smiles," she told him.

Naru blinked. Mai looked at the staunch contrast between the disgustingly-white walls and Naru's black clothes.

"He's always smiling in my dreams. I think Gene is...okay."

Mai inwardly flinched at her coarse choice of words. She just didn't want him to be too worried about Gene, but...

She felt something warm land on her shoulder. Blinking, Mai looked at the hand on her shoulder and back of the owner.

"Thank you." Naru smiled at her.

Oh. They _were_ identical, after all. "Y-y-you're w-w-w-welcome," Mai stuttered out in shock and happiness. Her face was as red as a Valentine's Day card as she looked at Naru's dazzling face. _My eyes aren't going blind, are they?_

"Now get some rest, Mai. I have a lot of things that you have to do tomorrow."

Grumbling at the sudden re-appearance of mean-Naru, Mai fell asleep.

----------------

It was a sort of sick pleasure.

Every person in the dim classroom knew, but refrained from speaking the truth out loud, as if it was magic that'd be dispelled the moment it was spoken.

Although some felt pity for the girl that everybody picked on in the dark confines of 2-C, nobody did anything as they were afraid of being the next victim.

And after all, it was, to an extent, catharsis.

They could inflict pain unto that girl instead of themselves. It was like seeing a play and coming out relaxed.

_Because it wasn't them, they could be relieved from the torture._

The students knew. Everybody knew. Megumi knew, the bullies knew. The teachers knew that something of the sort was occuring, but they couldn't do much to help the girl if she didn't ask for help.

Or maybe they weren't serious enough. It didn't matter, really. If they didn't take any action, then there would be no consequence. The students would keep bullying, Megumi would keep getting hurt, and that was that.

And they were damn glad that they weren't the actor.

-------------------

"Mai-_chan_," a voice behind her whispered into her ear. Shivering at the sudden feeling of breath upon her neck, Mai turned around in shock.

"M-_Megumi_?!" Mai shouted loudly. "What...why..._how_...?!"

Megumi grinned in sick pleasure. "Didn't I tell you before? I know you can see my memories, _darling_."

Mai shivered.

"And I must say," Megumi continued, "I'm not happy at the least."

Unable to speak, Mai merely looked on, her eyes darting left and right in pure fright. Her body wasn't moving, she couldn't turn away, and _where was Naru when she needed him the most?_ "Where's Na--Gene?" her voice asked. When did her mouth move--

"Him?" Megumi asked disdainfully. She smiled brightly after a second's pause. "Somewhere."

"Where is he? What'd you do to him?!" Mai's voice rose, but it still retained the slight shaking from fright.

Megumi rolled her eyes. "I didn't do anything. I merely gave him a warning, per se. Because, you see, if you want to defeat an opponent..." She flashed a momentary smile at Mai before continuing. "You have to cut off their connections first."

Mai looked at her.

_How could someone become so twisted?_

Although she knew _how_, she still couldn't get herself to believe that she was the demure girl who took all the abuse from the wretched class.

"Mai-chan," Megumi said, smiling in a cold, mocking way, "I think there's something waiting for you back outside."

"What are you talking about?!" Mai asked frantically. She could feel something bad stirring in her gut like indigested butterflies, but something felt so _off_, what was she planning on doing-

Megumi closed her eyes and let a grin stretch her lips. "You'll find out soon enough."

Seconds later, a scream ripped through the entire school.

* * *

Ah, I love how evil people can be. It just has this...sharp, edgy feel to it that's exhilarating. Like...adrenaline rush, only you're sitting down and you're staring at your computer with your body going with the fight-or-flight reflex.

...Yeah. I'm weird. I've been told that...

Yes, the story's progress is unbelievably slow, but I _swear_ that it's not going to take a millenium to finish this! (As absolutely laughable as it sounds, I have a smidgen of an idea of where it's heading. xD)


	4. lack of virtue

**Disclaimer:** I don't own anything.

**A/N:** I-I-I-I'm so sorry for the late update! Don't kill me! Please! I'm like, I'm like...my blubber isn't tasty! You can always kill SATs and AP testing, though! *hearts*

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**Chapter Four:** _lack of virtue_

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Opening her eyes with a loud gasp, Mai ripped the white sheets off of her body and _ran_. She had no idea where she was going, letting herself be guided by only a sense of twisted _wrong_ and butterflies in her stomach that made her feel sick with worry. Mai shivered slightly at the cold wooden floor of the school as it touched her feet and cursed vehemently when a wooden splinter embedded itself into her bare foot.

I can take that damn splinter out later, she reminded herself, huffing as she hurried to find the owner of the voice. She was so sure she knew the voice, she heard it from somewhere, but who exactly...? Running down the staircase and turning left with an almost-audible 'screech' towards the teachers' lounge, Mai stopped and opened the door. _It wasn't in base…they wouldn't get hurt. They wouldn't get hurt. Naru and Lin-san and Bou-san and Ayako are all fine…They are, they should be, they _will_ be_…

"Anybody here?" Mai asked after a second, unable to find anyone. The darkness of the room fried her nerves into small burnt crisps as she shakily searched for anybody in the vicinity. "Ayako? Bou-san? Naru? Lin-san? _Anyone_?"

No response.

A lone book that was placed upon a desk caught her attention. It was tattered almost beyond recognition, with paper fluttering about it as if it was ripped just now--_who was just here_? Oh, god, _who was just here?!_

Mai looked around the room shakily for somebody to appear.

Someone has to be here, she told herself frantically, someone has to be here, this book _couldn't_ have done this to itself, nobody's _here_, oh god, there's nobody here, what happened? She went closer to the book and peered over to see what it was and felt something catch in her throat. _Oh, oh god…_she really was going to ruin everybody.

Suddenly, in the midst of the silence that reigned the room, something breathed.

Mai froze and slowly turned to see what was there. It wasn't her breath. The sound was…wheezy, out of breath--

"...Mai-san...?"

She whipped her head towards the voice.

"Who--Hina-san?! Are you okay?! What happened?!"

There Hina laid, sprawled upon the wooden floor as blood seeped out of several wounds from her arms and torso. She managed to smile weakly at Mai with a tinge of remorse as she looked at the bland ceiling of the lounge.

"I...I think I saw Nakamura-san, Mai-san, I saw Nakamura-san, she was over there, over there, she was there, ripping the roster…" she said in a frantic voice, her eyelids fluttering rapidly and closing.

Mai's eyes widened in panic. That book--it was the roster? For what class? Why did she--

"What?! Hina-san, can you--"

Silence.

Oh god, she wasn't awake, she couldn't _die here_, she was a nice person, _somebody_, oh god, oh god--

"_Naru!_"

----------------

"So you ran," Naru stated monotonously. He looked at Mai as she fidgeted under his scrutinizing gaze.

"Well…yeah… Somebody _screamed!_ I couldn't have just said 'Oh, let's listen to someone screaming while _I do nothing_' while someone could've easily been killed!" she stated, flailing her arms slightly in the bright room. She flicked her eyes to Bou-san for a second as he grinned and waved at her from outside the door and glared, then looked back at Naru.

"In _your condition_? And you managed to get hurt _then_, too?" Naru asked with venom laced in every word.

Mai gulped. "Yes…?" She clutched the hem of her shirt tightly as she wondered where this conversation was heading. Probably not anywhere nice, she surmised in the back of her mind, but she paid no heed.

"You could've gotten seriously injured," Naru reprimanded her rather angrily as he looked at her straight into her eyes. "Don't you realize that this…_ghost_...wants to ruin you?"

Mai closed her eyes and attempted to relax. Instead of calming, however, Mai opened her eyes and glared back. She fumed.

"You think I could've just left that alone?! You think I would've been fine even if I just stayed there?! Megumi's hellbent on injuring _anyone_ that has to do with this damn school, Naru. Do you think I care about myself when she's out to get everybody?!" Mai yelled angrily as she looked at Naru straight in the eye. She breathed in and out angrily as she continued. "Do you think I'm that _selfish_?! Megumi…she doesn't want to just ruin _me_, Naru, but everyone in this _damn building_! You--_you_--she's trying to ruin _everybody_! She's not ignorant, Naru. She's not as foolish as you think! She cut off Gene from me, damn it. I can't just stay still! Do you think that I'll just smile and relax while she's out to hurt everyone?! I'm _not_ an invalid, Naru. I trusted you to know me better than that!" Her throat felt parched from her rant.

Naru let a bitter smile roam his face for a split second. He had become more open with her after he had told her about Gene, and although he attempted to trust her instincts for a short while, if it led to her being hurt in any way... "So you don't care about yourself at all?" he asked in a steely voice. "Do you?"

"I…" Mai paused. "I was rash," she said after a while with much trepidation. "But Megumi…she…_Gene_…"

Naru froze. "What about Gene?" he demanded, feeling something akin to cold water poured over his nerves.

"I can't talk to him, Naru. I don't know..."

Naru balled his fists and fumed silently, worrying about his twin the entire while.

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"Do you really think that Mizuki-sensei is a nice person?" Megumi asked after a moment's silence, looking at Gene. The black void that they were in did nothing to lighten the mood of the captive and the captor, although both attempted to create a facade in order to decipher the other.

He looked at her with a cool gaze, looking at her long hair caress her slender neck. "No. No, not really." Gene attempted to smile just then. "Although it'd be nice to be able to talk to Mai. Would you be as kind as to let me talk to her again and not trap me…_here_?" he asked, as if treading on dangerous ground.

Megumi smiled back with a glint in her eyes. "Of course not. It'd ruin the fun," she stated matter-of-factly, looking at Gene through closed eyes. "She should learn the hard way."

Gene attempted to give Megumi a smile and act as if he did not care, but could not bring himself to do so. "Do you really want to see her suffer that much?"

"She's too nice. I hate people like her."

"Is kindness not a virtue?" Gene asked, letting a bittersweet smile roam on his face as he internally hoped Mai was safe. Noll wouldn't be able to live without the bubbly girl, and himself, too, probably. If she was hurt or anything... Gene almost felt sick.

"Not to me," Megumi stated softly as she looked at Gene with something akin to hate. "Kindness is _weakness_. That girl is weak," she spat. "I hate her. I _hate_ her."

"Let me talk to Mai."

"No."

"Why are you doing this?"

Megumi smiled. "To make her suffer. To show her that kindness is _not _the answer. To ruin her. To ruin everybody that did this to me. I hate them. I hate them so much, I hate them, I _hate them_…"

She paused.

"And she's on their side. So I hate her. Of course, I hate your brother too, but if I hurt her, that'll hurt him, so…" Megumi smiled. "It'll hurt you too, won't you?"

Gene remained silent. "No. No, it won't," he stated, attempting to take away any shaking that could be detected in his voice. _Mai, please be okay_…

"It would, won't it?"

And with that, Megumi disappeared with a whirl of wind, leaving Gene alone in the darkness.

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Yes, I know, this doesn't really suffice for my month-long disappearance, but _pleasepleaseplease_ forgive me? I'm seriously lost as to where I'm going with this. D:

**PM/REVIEW IF YOU HAVE IDEAS ON HOW THE SHOW SHOULD RUN? PLEASE? I LOVE YOU ALL VERY VERY MUCH. **_Seriously._

Yeah, I know. I suck. I love you guys dearly! *hearts*

Read and review, and **PLEASE** do give me some constructive criticism~ Seriously, I will kowtow you if you do. I _adore_ improving my baby (which is this fic. Darling Ijime, isn't it? :D)!


	5. and now it begins

**Disclaimer**: I own zilch :)

**A/N**: Sorry for the late update! I have no excuse for my extremely late update. ;-; …I'm trying to improve my writing skills by putting in more details. How is it? Please tell me! Thank you for still following with this extremely slow story. I'll update faster! I promise! ;o; Don't abandon Megumi!

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**Chapter Five:** _and now it begins_

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Gene stood in a dark, seemingly never-ending path of pitch black. He ran his fingers through his coal-black hair, smiling wanly as he looked for anything to latch his hopes upon. He felt despair tugging at his throat, making him feel dizzy and heartbroken and useless.

"Let me go," Gene told—almost begged—her. He tried to paste a fake smile on his face as he attempted to appease Megumi, but he knew his attempts were futile. He felt his heart constrict as he closed his eyes and saw Mai, panic-stricken and pallid from fear. He gripped the hem of his shirt in frustration. _What could he do?_

"No," she said as she threw him a sidelong glance, not really caring about anything anymore. Nothing mattered, after all. She was dead. _Dead_. The word had such finality to it that she didn't want to argue with anything. "Why do you even try when you know I'm not going to let you?"

There was nothing to be said for that short while as they look at each other. The heaviness of the air made it hard to breathe for Gene and his already-frazzled nerves.

And then, Gene spoke. "Because I love her. Because she's far too precious to die..." The moment he said it, he realized that it was true. He _loved_ Mai…but he was only going to be a spectator. For the idiot scientist and Mai, and for himself. That was how it was supposed to be.

"Precious to _you_? Or for your brother?" she asked.

"For both of us," Gene replied. It was true, after all. Although Oliver didn't realize it completely, Gene knew how much Oliver loved Mai, and although he loved Mai…no, because he loved Mai…he would never, _ever_ be with her.

"What a loved girl," Megumi stated wistfully. She toyed with her hair as she curled a lock around her fingers. "A love triangle. I never thought I'd really see one, nonetheless see two twins over her after one's dead." She glanced at him.

And this time, Gene truly smiled at her as he thought of Mai. "Indeed."

-x-x-x-x-x-

Serving tea to Naru in the base, Mai looked at her boss and was struck still when a frantic Gene appeared in her eyes for a split second. Her face paled as she remembered the detail from the previous night. If she told them, she'd surely be endangering them…but they needed this information. It was vital. The tray she held fell from her grasp as she succumbed to her nerves from a faint, dark memory.

The cups shattered on the cold tiled floor. Tea spilled from the broken shards, and as if surprised, Mai blinked at the loud crash and hastily looked around, hurriedly picking up pieces of china from the cold floor of the old science room. The other regulars looked at her in surprise and in worry that she could cut herself. Bou-san and Ayako hurriedly went to Mai's side to help her some, the three of them kneeling down and picking up shards.

"The roll book," Mai whispered to herself. Her voice was shaky and feeble as her body still shook slightly, her mind in a numb sort of despair as weak tremors continued to roll across her spine. Worried, Ayako and Bou-san pulled her up from the floor and set her on the couch.

"Mai?" Naru called. "What's the matter?" It was a concealed question. _Are you okay?_

"She…Megumi ripped the roll book of Hina-san's class. Hina-sensei was Megumi's homeroom teacher..." Mai said as her voice hitched in her throat. _No, I'm not okay_. She couldn't breathe. _Who was wrong?_ Was she going to let this idea swallow her whole, ruining her very self? What was…

"Oh god, Naru…oh god," Mai whimpered as she rolled herself into a ball.

"Research Mizuki Hina. I want every piece of information there is about her." Naru stated. His voice was clipped and dangerously low from suppressed anger. When everybody in the base remained silent, he threw a glare at the vicinity. "Now."

Lin curtly nodded at Naru before turning his gaze to the computer in front of him, rapidly typing into the machine as windows began popping up on the screen.

Maybe Hina-sensei was unconsciously mean. Maybe she didn't mean to turn a blind eye from the incidents.

Or maybe...she wasn't all that she made herself out to be. _God, please don't let it be true._

The last idea scared her. She didn't want to think about how Hina- sensei could have been wearing a mask all the time, about how…

No. She was the one that was hurt. It was Megumi that physically hurt Hina-sensei.

But…was that really it? Was she going to allow herself to completely ruin a person's image in her mind based on that amount of knowledge?

Who was the real culprit of this mess? Was it the person who allowed it to happen…or was it the person who hurt people?

Mai had no idea.

-x-x-x-x-x-

"You hold a grudge," Gene said to Megumi. It was a statement, not a question or something with open-ended answers.

Megumi smiled. "Yes. I do." Looking away, she murmured the lyrics to a child's tune, closing her eyes and envisioning a small pond with wild animals freely going about. And then, she was there, a rampaging ghost with nothing but bloodlust, killing each peaceful creature in the most gruesome ways possible. What had they done to her? What had those pieces of scum done to her? "I'm going to kill them all."

And she was. The death sentence she put upon all of them put her heart in such peace that she knew she was going to make that happen.

Gene looked at her. "But why?"

Megumi ignored his question. "I once heard of how people who attempted to commit suicide and survived were glad to be alive. I'm glad I'm dead. I'm so glad that I want to show them exactly how it feels to be pushed to an edge..." Megumi smiled, as if finally in peace with herself. "And I'm going to show them in the bloodiest ways possible."

"Will you let me go?" asked Gene.

Megumi snorted. "You really have a one-track mind, don't you? Is the girl _that_ precious to you?"

"She's the most precious person in my life."

"Even more than your twin? She's not going to be my first victim, you know. I have much more people to..._punish_...first," she told him. "You're boring, you know that? All you care is love, family, and all those mushy ideals that aren't really there. You're not even alive." Megumi sighed. "Just go. You're sickening."

With a wave of her hand, Gene felt himself go free.

"Thank you."

Megumi stilled. As soon as he left, she grabbed her hair with both of her hands and cried.

"This is all their fault...I _hate_ them."

-x-x-x-x-x-

Itou Miyuki browsed through the countless shelves of books in the isolated part of the public library. Humming a catchy tune she heard in the mall a few days back, she raised an arm as she tried to reach for the book she had in mind.

"Just a bit more..." she told herself as she balanced on the tip of her toes, grimacing slightly as all of her weight went to her toes. "Just a bit...ah, got it!" Cheering to herself, she reached out for the book and caught it in between her thumb and index finger.

"Having fun, are we?"

Screaming, Miyuki turned to see who was there, dropping the book on the dusty floor as she frantically looked around her. There was nothing. She shook her head and looked at the mahogany shelves.

"I must be hallucinating...I mean, there's _obviously_ nobody―"

"Nobody, you say? Well, you did say I was one." The voice spoke again.

Miyuki's body began to shake. "Who's there?" she asked, her voice wavering from fear.

A girl appeared in front of her. "I'm sad. Don't you remember me, Miyuki-chan?"

"Nakamura...?" Miyuki asked. "That's impossible! You're _dead_!"

Megumi smiled. "I'm so happy that you remember me! We used to be classmates, ne?"

"You're _dead_!" Miyuki repeated, more for herself than Megumi. "Why are you here? Get away from me, you freak!" Scrambling to get her stuff and away from this rampant insane girl, Miyuki hurriedly tried to get away from Megumi.

"Of course I'm dead, you silly!" Megumi's smile grew. Donning the Morishita High School uniform of a checkered skirt and black blazer, she comfortably walked to the end of the aisle they were both in.

"Go away! Rest in peace or something! Just _get_ _away from me_!"

"I would if I could," Megumi said with a petulant frown. She looked at the girl in front of her as Miyuki tried to push her away to go out of the section.

"Get out of my way! Let me go, you disgusting _bitch_!" Miyuki shrieked.

Megumi grabbed the other girl's wrist with a cold glare that sent a chill through Miyuki's spine. "I'm sorry. I _can't_." She squeezed the girl's wrist with a strength that she didn't know existed.

A sickening "_pop_" rang through the library. A painful scream soon followed.

"Oops! Well, there goes your wrist," Megumi said in a sing-song tone, not at all sorry.

"I'm sorry," Miyuki began to say with a frantic gleam in her eyes that Megumi found rather to her liking. "I'm sorry I was so cruel to you, I'm sorry that we bullied you, I'm sorry, please, _please_ don't hurt me…" Megumi never realized how torturing could be so, _so_ fun. Nobody had told her how enjoyable this feeling of power was.

"Well, Miyuki-chan..." Megumi said as she inspected at the enormous books at her side with a predator's ease, "...sorry doesn't cut it."

The tall bookshelves hovering around and above the two began to shake violently. The wood groaned with old age, and the books from the upper shelves began to fall to the floor with a loud "_thump_".

Miyuki's eyes widened. "Please...please, _don't_, please..." she begged. Miyuki held on to the girl for dear life, tears streaming across her face as she mustered the strength to raise her wrist that had been pulled out of its socket and appease the dead girl in front of her.

Megumi looked at her one more time.

"As I told you before, Miyuki-chan..._sorry_ doesn't cut it."

The bookshelves around them began to topple. It felt like an eternity to the both of them.

"If you survive this...tell the others I'm after them, will you? Surprise visits are more boring than they should be."

With a loud crash, the shelves completely fell over. The last thing Miyuki remembered hearing were the frantic voices of the library employees and a light, airy giggle that was gone as soon as it reached her ears.

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A/N: Saa…now it officially begins. My psychotic dear isn't only going to target the SPR, so it's going to be as crazy as a pandemic~! I'm pretty sure I know where everything's going now, so I'm sort-of happy! Although it took me a few months...I'm sorry! I didn't realize how fast time has been passing; vacation is almost over! Thank you so much for following this…amateur story (I have yet to improve, but I'm trying a new style), and I sincerely hope it'll be to your liking. Thank you!

Please read and review! Constructive criticism is always welcome. Actually, it's loved!


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